Community Corner
CA Senator Hill April 3 2019 Support for Tougher DUI Prevention
If you are in the Sacramento CA area, consider attending this meeting at 10:00 a.m.
Article Source: CA State Senator Jerry Hill
News Conference 10 AM Wednesday, April 3, at Capitol on Lawmakers’ Push to Prevent DUIs
Media Contact: Leslie Guevarra, 415-298-3404, leslie.guevarra@sen.ca.gov
Families of Toddler, Naval Academy Midshipman Killed by Drunk Drivers Join Senator Jerry Hill, Assemblymember Autumn Burke, MADD and National Road Safety Advocates to Urge Support for Tougher DUI Prevention Bills
Survivor Families Back Bills to Require All DUI Offenders to Install Car Devices That Prevent Drunk Driving and Lower Legal DUI Threshold to .05
SACRAMENTO – The parents of a 15-month-old boy who was killed by a drunk driver and the parents of a Naval Academy midshipman who died when a drunk motorist plowed into the family’s car join other DUI crash survivors, MADD, national road safety advocates, Senator Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, and Assemblymember Autumn Burke, D-Marina del Rey, at a news conference on 2019 legislation that adds more muscle to California’s drunk driving laws.
WHAT: News Conference on Senate Bill 545 (Hill) to ensure that all DUI offenders are required to install ignition interlock devices in their cars to prevent them from driving drunk again and Assembly Bill 1713 (Burke) to lower the legal threshold for drunk driving to a .05 blood-alcohol concentration.
WHEN: 10 AM Wednesday, April 3, 2019, east side of Capitol, just beyond the East Steps at starred location:
WHO: In addition to Senator Hill, the author of SB 545 and the coauthor of AB 1713, expected speakers include:
· Mary Klotzbach. SB 545, the Matthew Klotzbach Mandatory Ignition Interlock for DUI Offender Act of 2019, is named for her son. Matthew, 22, was riding home with his family after an outing when a drunk driver crashed into their car in 2001. Mary Klotzbach cofounded the Bay Area chapter of MADD and became an unstinting advocate for ignition interlocks to prevent drunk driving. She is a former member of MADD’s National Board.
· Marcus Kowal and Mishel Eder. The parents of 15-month-old Liam have devoted their lives to honoring their son’s memory and changing the legal threshold in California for DUI to a .05 blood-alcohol concentration. Assemblymember Burke named her AB 1713, Liam’s Law, to honor the child who was killed after a hit-and-run drunk driver struck Liam in his stroller as his aunt was wheeling him across the street in a crosswalk in Hawthorne.
· Leah Walton, Safety Advocate, National Transportation Safety Board.
· Carol Leister, MADD National Board Member. Her son, Scott was 21 and had received his certificate as a wilderness EMT in 2008, when a drunk driver barreling east across the Bay Bridge at more than 100 miles an hour rammed into the rear of a Mercedes carrying Scott, his brother and two friends as they headed home to Castro Valley. Scott, who had been in the back seat, died. His injured companions were taken to the hospital. The drunk driver, with a blood-alcohol reading at twice the legal limit, walked away from his car with minor scrapes.
· Alex Epstein, Director of Transportation Safety, National Safety Council.
· Peter Kurdock, General Counsel, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
· Bruce Lee Livingston, Executive Director and CEO, Alcohol Justice.
VISUALS: A car with an ignition interlock will be available for a demo, photos and b-roll.
Background:
Preventing Drunk Driving with Technology
Preventing drunk driving has been a legislative priority for Senator Hill throughout his service in the Legislature. His efforts to make ignition interlock devices mandatory for all DUI offenders span seven years. The devices better known as IIDs will prevent a car from starting if a would-be driver’s breath sample exceeds a certain preset blood-alcohol concentration.
Senator Hill’s SB 61 in 2015 extended the life of a four-county pilot program of the devices for all DUI offenders. His SB 1046 in 2016 expanded the pilot to all 58 counties starting January 1, 2019, but a late-stage amendment exempted first-timers not involved in an injury crash from the IID requirement. SB 545 honoring Matthew Klotzbach would make IID installation a requirement for all DUI offenders.
More than 1,000 people die and over 20,000 are injured each year in California as a result of drunk driving. In the past 30 years, more than 50,000 people have died and over 1 million have been injured because of drunk drivers in the state.
In contrast, from December 2006 to December 2017 in California, IIDs stopped 220,792 drunk driving attempts by people with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, according to research by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Across the U.S. over the same period, IIDs prevented 2.7 million drunk driving attempts, the MADD study found.
A 2018 study by the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine urged all states to enact laws requiring IIDs for all DUI offenders. Twenty to 28 percent of all first-time DUI offenders are likely drive drunk again, and reoffenders are 62 percent more likely to be involved in a fatal crash, according to the study. However, the study also said that DUI offenders who have IIDs in their cars are less likely than other offenders to be rearrested for alcohol-related driving offenses. They are also less likely than other DUI offenders to crash their car if it is equipped with an IID. The NAS recommendation mirrored that of a 2013 NTSB study.
Preventing Drunk Driving by Lower Legal Limits for Blood-Alcohol Content
Both studies also urged states to lower the legal threshold for drunk driving, bringing it to a .05 blood alcohol concentration or lower.
In announcing its findings in 2013, the NTSB said research showed that “although impairment begins with the first drink, by 0.05 BAC, most drivers experience a decline in both cognitive and visual functions, which significantly increases the risk of a serious crash. Currently, over 100 countries on six continents have BAC limits set at 0.05 or lower. The NTSB has asked all 50 states to do the same.”
Utah became the first state to do so with its new .05 BAC law taking effect in December 2018.
“The laws named in honor of Matthew Klotzbach and Liam Kowal will save lives,” said Senator Hill. “Drunk driving and the death and injuries it causes are entirely preventable. There is no reason for another family to suffer the loss of a child and other loved ones. We have the tools and the means to stop these tragedies now.”
Assemblymember Burke authored AB 1713 in response to the DUI hit-and-run crash that fatally injured Liam Kowal and critically injured his 15-year-old aunt. “There is overwhelming evidence demonstrating the need for lowering the BAC to .05 percent and if it prevents another family from suffering a horrific loss like Marcus and Mishel’s, then I have a responsibility to do whatever I can,” said Assemblymember Burke, in introducing AB 1713 with Assemblymember Heath Flora, R-Ripon, and Senator Hill.
The Senate Public Safety Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on SB 545 on April 9.
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Leslie Guevarra
Communications Director
Office of State Senator Jerry Hill
leslie.guevarra@sen.ca.gov
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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives
Source Credit: CA State Senator Jerry Hill
Web Site: http://sd13.senate.ca.gov/
Local Contact: 1528 South El Camino Real San Mateo CA 94402
Phone: 650 – 212 – 3313 Fax: 650 – 212 - 3320
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